New Jewish lobby seeks to redefine “pro-Israel”16 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWASHINGTON, 15 April – A new group of prominent US Jews who believe that the so-called “Israel Lobby” has been dominated for too long by neo-conservatives and other Likud-oriented hawks has launched a new organization to help fund political candidates who favor a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a stronger US role in achieving it.
Carter’s visit with Hamas’ Meshal15 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr r”Carter seems more comfortable with terrorists than with friends like Israel.” So said a newsflash on the Israeli daily Haaretz’s website last Sunday. The statement was attributed to the American pro-Israel group, the Anti-Defamation League, and was obviously a reaction to news that former US president Jimmy Carter was planning to meet with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal during an upcoming visit to Damascus. EI contributor Hasan Abu Nimah comments.
Former intelligence officer tortured, killed in Gaza15 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn 15 April 2008, the family of former Palestinian Authority General Intelligence captain Sami Khatab was informed by the police that his body was found on the ground about 700 meters north of Palestinian International University and about 200 meters east of the coastal road in Gaza City. Paramedics from Shuhda’a al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah were summoned to the area by the police after the body was found.
In Gaza, fueling cars with cooking oil15 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAmna Abu Sido was waiting for a ride at the so-called Universities Junction in the heart of Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon when she explained how difficult her commute has become: “I take at least two taxis to go back home to the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood from the school I teach at in Talatini street. Taxis are scarce nowadays and this is really adding to our difficulties.” EI correspondent Rami Almeghari reports on how Palestinians in Gaza are coping with the latest Israeli measure of collective punishment.
Israel moves to shut Hebron orphanages, schools15 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rHEBRON, 14 April (IRIN) – A Palestinian charity in the West Bank city of Hebron is concerned it will be shut by the Israeli military and forced to close its orphanages and schools, employees at the institution told IRIN. The Israeli military has ordered the closure of buildings rented by the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS), saying it is working for Hamas.
Morrissey: celebrating apartheid in Tel Aviv?14 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rToday the Palestinian boycott campaign organization PACBI wrote to celebrated singer Morrissey: “On 3 December 2007, you said: ‘I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic with regard to what my position is. Racism is beyond common sense and I believe it has no place in our society.’ It is ‘absolutely clear’ that your performance in Israel would betray a regrettable double standard, if not a categorical negation of those noble ideals.”
How Palestinian children really learn14 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn 22 March, The Miami Herald published an article entitled “Dreaming of a peaceful Mideast.” The initial reaction to such a headline is naturally one of pleased interest. Reporter Frida Ghitis praises the Israel/Palestine Centre for Research and Information for “working to create” a “culture of peace” in order to “put a stop to incitement and hatred.” Carol Scheller comments for EI.
Poll: Israel, US greatest threats to Middle East14 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWASHINGTON, 14 April (IPS) – Despite renewed US efforts to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement this year, popular views of the United States in the Arab world have actually worsened since 2006, according to a major new survey of public opinion in six Arab states.
Gaza fuel cuts paralyze education, health and transport sectors13 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe Palestinian Centre for Human Rights is extremely worried about the continued Israeli ban on fuel supplies required for civilian life in the Gaza Strip. The stoppage in fuel supplies has paralyzed 50 percent of the educational sector as half the students in all educational levels are unable to reach their schools and universities.
Montreal activists disrupt Israeli anniversary event13 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rProtesters successfully disrupted a lunch-in sponsored by the Quebec-Israel Committee, marking “60 years of relationship” between Canada and Israel. After effectively evading hotel security and the Montreal police, social justice activists burst into the appointed conference room, abruptly bringing to a halt the pro-apartheid discourse of Israel’s ambassador to Canada.
London Palestine Film Festival opens 18 April13 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe London Palestine Film Festival opens on 18 April and runs for two weeks, with another extraordinary selection of documentary, fiction, art, and experimental work by artists from around the world. Still the largest of its kind, this year the Festival program includes more than 50 works related to the question of Palestine by artists from across the globe working in every genre of film and video production.
Israel kills seven, mostly civilian teenagers, in Gaza invasion13 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rAt approximately 4am 11 April 2008, a special unit of the Israeli Occupation Forces penetrated on foot into the Gaza Strip. The force mobilized at the Gaza border and moved one kilometer into northeastern al-Bureij refugee camp, where it broke into a number of houses and took positions atop them.
No ambulance, call the radio11 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGAZA CITY, 12 April – “I am bleeding uncontrollably, I need an ambulance.” That was not a call to emergency services, it was an appeal broadcast live on radio in Gaza City. Who knows whether there will ever be an ambulance or not. But this way the ambulance services still hear the appeal broadcast on al-Iman FM Radio Station, one of few independent radio stations in Gaza. And if the emergency services cannot help, someone else who hears the appeal might.
Reflections on the Palestine return movement10 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rMuhammad Jaradat looks at the history that shaped the Palestinian Return Movement, the obstacles and challenges it faced—both internal and external—and its achievements towards the revitalization of the Palestinian consensus about the centrality of the right of return for the future of the Palestinian people and peace in the region.
Activists urge boycott of Jerusalem literature festival9 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rThe first International Writers’ Festival is scheduled to take place 11-15 May 2008 in Jerusalem, just three days after Israel’s official celebrations of 60 years of independence. Substantially financed by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, this festival must necessarily be seen in the context of the Israeli government’s wider public relations campaign to bring international artistic, cultural and political figures to brighten the state’s image on the international stage.
In memory of Esther: Cinema Dunia9 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWhen I think of cinema in Ramallah, I think of Esther Jallad. She and her family were expelled from their wealthy home in the port city of Jaffa in 1948 and found themselves in the hilly village of Ramallah. In her displacement, Esther carried one passion with her: she loved to go to the movies. She lived conveniently, next to one of the three cinemas in Ramallah, Cinema Dunia. Raja Shehadeh remembers a woman whose life imitated art, and a lost Palestinian past.
UNICEF: Distance yourself from tainted money8 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rIn an open letter dated 9 April 2008 to Executive Director of UNICEF Ann Vennemen, the Palestinian Boycott Campaign’s National Committee finds unacceptable UNICEF’s response to a letter from human rights activists urging the UN agency to refrain from accepting any contributions from Israeli diamond tycoon and developer of Israeli settlements, Lev Leviev.
New York commemorates Deir Yassin massacre8 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOver 80 New Yorkers from diverse communities gathered last Saturday, 5 April in the Salam Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Deir Yassin massacre, which occurred on 9 April 1948. Speakers discussed the need to redress the human rights violations that Israel committed in 1948 as a step towards a just future.
Palestine refugees from Iraq resettled in Chile7 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rDAMASCUS, 7 April (IRIN) – Thirty-nine Palestinian refugees from Iraq—stuck at al-Tanf refugee camp in no-man’s land on the Iraq-Syria border—have been resettled in Chile. “Until last year it felt like the doors were closed for moving the Palestinian refugees. The desert conditions at al-Tanf are extremely inappropriate for the refugees to live in.
The “humanitarian” sidelining of Nahr al-Bared7 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rOn the rare occasions the media have covered the situation of destroyed Nahr al-Bared camp’s more than 30,000 inhabitants, they have done so with only a narrow focus on the humanitarian problems they face—ignoring the glaring political questions that only the camp residents seem to be left asking. Ray Smith analyzes such a report for Electronic Lebanon.
Sixty years after Deir Yassin7 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWhen I came to learn of the fate that befell the Palestinians, I was shaken to the core and most particularly when I read eye-witness accounts of a massacre of Palestinian villagers that occurred a month before Israel’s unilateral declaration of independence. This was at Deir Yassin, a quiet village just outside Jerusalem, which had the misfortune to lie by the road from Tel Aviv. South African minister Ronnie Kasrils recalls the massacre that happened there 60 years ago and observes that the killing of Palestinians has continued uninterrupted.
No checkpoints in heaven7 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rMy father was a man who always defied the notion that one can only be the outcome of his circumstance. Expelled from his village at the age of 10, running barefoot behind his parents, he was instantly transferred from the son of a landowning farmer to a penniless refugee in a blue tent provided by the United Nations in Gaza. Thus, his life of hunger, pain, homelessness, freedom-fighting, love, marriage and loss commenced. Ramzy Baroud remembers his father who passed away on 18 March.
Meet the Lebanese Press: Post-summit syndrome6 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rWhat’s next for Lebanon after the Arab Summit that concluded last weekend in Damascus? Marx said history repeats itself first as tragedy, second as farce. Arab summits tend to repeat themselves as tragedies and farces at one and the same time, and the latest summit in Damascus was no exception. Summit soap opera moves by top and low-level delegates over closing statements, the tone of speeches, and other trivialities were the norm.
EU “closer than ever” to Israel6 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rBRUSSELS, 4 April (IPS) – Israel has been described as “closer to the European Union than ever before” by a leading Brussels official, even though a new EU report laments the ongoing killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces. This week, the European Commission published a series of progress reports on its relations with countries neighboring the 27-country bloc.
Gaza running on near empty5 Apr 2008rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGAZA CITY, 5 April (IPS) – Ayman Eid stands as motionless as his orange Hyundai taxi. Never mind taking a passenger somewhere, Ayman has no idea how he will ever get home. The queue at the petrol station seems endless. Drivers have run out of petrol even to queue up in their cars; they just queue up themselves, empty cans in hand. Only the lucky leave with a full can by the end of a day.
Electronic Intifada